For the next two weeks, we''re going to try something new. This is an experiment, and there is a reasonable chance that it might not work out. For the next two weeks you may put your promotional/publisher posts in the relevant game forum. Please read this thread for more information.

Tabletop & Titansgrave

Hello everyone! Darryl here with a slightly delayed News Digest that I’m blaming on a tropical storm. We’ve got new details on Tomb of Annihilation and D&D Beyond, news on the Critical Role sourcebook's release, Origins Awards winners, a huge charity stream from Saving Throw, the new Warhammer 40K edition, and more!

Hello everyone! Darryl here with this week’s gaming news! And this week is all about controversy. Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition release information (with a controversial hiring), Green Ronin is looking for female writers for Lost Citadel, International Tabletop Day may not be able to meet demand for promotional items, and more! Even this week’s Kickstarters are loaded with controversy!
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Hello everyone, Darryl here with this week's gaming news! Paizo's Twitch stream including a lot of Starfinder news, Wizards of the Coast announced their next D&D book, Acquisitions Inc delivers a holiday special for sale, Green Ronin announces their plans for 2017, Mongoose Publishing does the same for their Traveller line, and more!

Hello everyone, Darryl here with this week’s gaming news. Tabletop is back but only free for two weeks, big shake-ups for the Cortex System, several big personnel changes in the industry, GameStop posts a big loss as they transition from video games to tabletop, Trapdoor Technologies closes its doors, and much more!

Hello, Darryl here with this week's news. Legendary Pictures (owners of Geek & Sundry and Nerdist) announced a new online video subscription service with big impact on popular tabletop gaming shows Critical Role and Tabletop, Paizo makes a bunch of big announcements including compact sourcebooks, a new in-store incentive program for Pathfinder Society, and a new campaign setting book, a classic Dragonlance comic is getting the graphic novel treatment, Warhammer 40K has new introductory model kits, and more!

Two of the biggest hits coming from the new surge of online tabletop gaming programming unquestionably are Wil Wheaton's Tabletop and the D&D live stream Critical Role, both from Geek & Sundry. Today, Legendary Pictures announced yesterday their new video-on-demand service Alpha which includes big changes to these shows. The service will cost $4.99 a month and give early access to many Nerdist and Geek & Sundry shows including Co-Optitude, The Dan Cave, and Because Science two days before they're released on other outlets such as YouTube. But the two biggest names have bigger changes coming. &nbsp...READ MORE

Two online video series announcements came over the weekend. Not only did Wil Wheaton announce that the upcoming season of Tabletop will feature more roleplaying games, including Fate Core from Evil Hat Productions, but WotC announced that their popular live Acquisitions Inc., event hosted by Chris Perkins at PAX East every year will be getting its own video series this summer.
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For those new to the concept of tabletop role-playing game, learning Dungeons & Dragons can be a daunting task. From the scope of imaginary fantasy it covers to the math required to the full engagement necessary for players to enjoy it, D&D is not a casual game for casual players. And yet the popularity of D&D is on the rise. There are lots of factors that have contributed to its ascension: an aging populace of gamers embracing their childhood hobby and a new streamlined edition, to name a few. But there may be a new factor contributing to the game's popularity thanks to the Internet.

Wil Wheaton has announced a couple of the games being played on his popular Tabletop web show this year, along with other news about the upcoming season (which will be the 4th season of the show). He and his team have reduced a list of about 450 games down to around 20, which are mainly boardgames but will include a couple of roleplaying games. The focus is a little more on family games this year (things in the vein of Tsuro and Ticket to Ride). While there's no official release date yet, the beginning of June is looking likely. &nbsp...READ MORE

Green Ronin has revealed its plans for the coming year - a year packed with news of Fantasy AGE, Wil Wheaton's Titansgrave, Mutants & Masterminds, and more! In fact, with over 20 products planned, Green Ronin has a pretty hectic release schedule. You can read the full report here, but for those looking for the highlights, I've listed them below. The schedule includes RPGs, card games, dice, even a coffee-table book about fantasy cinema. Plus there are new or revised GM's Kits for several of their lines with new GM screens, reference cards, and combat trackers. &nbsp...READ MORE

One of the interesting things over the last few weeks has been watching the Hot Games Chart change over the Gen Con period. As you may know, that chart monitors over 1,000 sites, blogs, and forums and compares how often different games are mentioned. The big change recently has been the meteoric rise of Green Ronin's Adventure Game Engine (which powers Dragon AGE, Fantasy AGE, Titansgrave, etc.) In the last three months it has climbed from #20 or so all the way up to #4 on the [non D&D] chart, and to #9 on the combined chart.
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So there was this show - you might have heard of it - a convention called Gen Con. I was there last week, from Wednesday to last Sunday. I spent Monday in a kind of lethargic coma, and really only started to be remotely human Tuesday. During this time, the Pick of the Day went largely untended, and I totally missed doing this weekly roundup of mine whilst in the midst of the madness in Indianapolis. You all have my sincerest apologies on that mark, and I hope to make it up to you with this cornucopia of selections. Included is a large number of ENnie Award winners, so read on and discover gaming grandeur!
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At the Titansgrave Gen Con panel, Wil Wheaton announced that there would be a second season of Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkania. The panel ended with a standing ovation. More info if I hear it!
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Green Ronin reports that Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana is now at the printers. For $24.95, you'll be able get the full-colour hardback 96-page setting devised by Wil Wheaton and a whole host of other authors (Keith Baker, Leonard Balsera, Logan Bonner, Matt Forbeck, Will Hindmarch, Jackson Lanzing, Nicole Lindroos, Chris Pramas, Robert J. Schwalb, Mike Selinker, Clark Valentine, Ryan Wheaton, and Ray Winninger) for the weekly RPG web show. Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana is a setting for Green Ronin's upcoming Fantasy AGE RPG and is slated for a Gen Con release along with the Fantasy AGE core rulebook.
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The latest episode of Wil Wheaton's Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana is live. Watch as Wil guides his celebrity players though the the fourth installment of a campaign run with Green Ronin's Fantasy AGE RPG. "After finding themselves declared terrorists in Nestora, the party follows Aucker — a friend of the Beer Baron — to the Nestoran sewers in order to escape their current situation. The city above may have held danger for our adventurers, but will they find even more peril in the ancient city below?"
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As you probably know by now, Wil Wheaton hosts the new RPG web show, Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana. In it, he runs Green Ronin's Fantasy AGE roleplaying for a group of celebrity friends. What you might not have known is that each week he gives a gamemastering tip, hosted by popular website The Mary Sue. There have been two so far - the first about getting players invested in your world, and the second talks about character arcs.
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It's Tuesday! That can only mean one thing... well, it can mean lots of things. Like it's my birthday in 3 days. But in this particular case it means that there's a brand new episode of Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana, starring Wil Wheaton as he runs a game of Green Ronin's Fantasy AGE for his celebrity players. "The Beer Baron and Keg-E bid farewell to the party after considerable celebration and revelry. In an attempt to learn more about their mysterious orb, the group heads to Nestora in search of Farkiah the Antiquarian. Excited for an opportunity to bargain, barter, and more importantly, shop, the heroes quickly head to the market district, but they soon find that it holds more than goods. What does the city-state have in store for our heroes? Tune in to find out."
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The 144-page Fantasy AGE core rulebook is now listed on Green Ronin's web store as "coming soon". Billed as "your entry point to tabletop roleplaying", it's the game system that Wil Wheaton's Titansgrave web show is based on. But that's not all - the 96-page setting itself, Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana is also listed! With an author list including Keith Baker, Leonard Balsera, Logan Bonner, Matt Forbeck, Will Hindmarch, Jackson Lanzing, Nicole Lindroos, Chris Pramas, Robert J. Schwalb, Mike Selinker, Clark Valentine, Wil Wheaton, Ryan Wheaton, and Ray Winninger it's a superstar lineup! The current best guess for release is Gen Con this year. (thanks to Jennifer for the scoop!)
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The second episode of Wil Wheaton's Titansgrave web series went live earlier this evening. "Join Aankia (Hank Green), Kiliel (Alison Haislip), Lemley (Laura Bailey), and S’Lethkk (Yuri Lowenthal) in the second installment of Titansgrave: Ashes of Valkana. When we last saw our heroes, the beer had been saved and celebrations had ensued. The Beer Baron, having made the last stop in his yearly delivery trip, asks the party to escort his caravan to his estate. Aankia, Kiliel, Lemley, and S’Lethkk find themselves surrounded not only by the rarest of beers, but also by a threat so ancient that it hasn’t been seen since the days of the Chaos Wars. How will our heroes handle themselves? create is no more damaging than the weakest evocation, but many other effects are possible."
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Reviews

How much you like Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica will depend upon what you want. If you're a Magic the Gathering player who wants an RPG version of Ravnica, GGtR may or may not satisfy you, depending upon how much setting depth you want from MtG. If you're looking for a full setting like the old Dungeons & Dragons' box sets, then you'll probably be disappointed because this is more of a slice of Ravnica than a comprehensive resource. If you're looking for more of a toolkit for creating adventures in the famous Magic the Gathering setting, GGtR is it If you're looking for a D&D fantasy setting because you're tired of Forgotten Realms but still want something in a similar ballpark thematically, then GGtR will also work for you.

Invisible Sun, the surrealist RPG by Monte Cook Games is definitely unique in many ways. While premium or high production value board games and LARPs have become increasingly common, the RPG industry version has been tame by comparison. Invisible Sun blows the concept out of the water. I've never seen an RPG that had shelving before.

Wizards of the Coast has worked hard to provide a variety of adventure types for 5th Edition and with Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage they're tackling megadungeons. Mad Mage can be played on its own, if the players begin with 5th characters or better, or it can follow up the Waterdeep: Dragon Heist adventure, which is for 1st through 6th level characters. Please note: This review contains spoilers.

Degenesis: Rebirth is the latest edition of a game whose lineage goes back to the early 2000s. Christian Günther and Marko Djurdjevic put together their primal punk universe of a post-apocalyptic Earth and with Sixmorevodka have put out this slick new edition. KatharSys is Book II of the Degenesis: Rebirth edition and holds all the mechanical information needed to be a protagonist (player) or game master in the universe of Degenesis.